KINGBIRD. 83 



turned roots of a fallen tree. I well remember 

 finding a cave nest when we were children. We 

 let ourselves down into the cave by a crevice in 

 the lime rock, and after groping our way among 

 the loose stones that made the floor, and as our 

 anxious fathers insisted the roof of the cave, 

 crawling along low passages, wedging between 

 narrow walls, and hunting for stepping stones 

 across the dark pools that reflected the glimmer 

 of our candles, we suddenly came into a flood of 

 daylight, a crack in the rocks wide enough to 

 make a dangerous pitfall for the horses and cows 

 that grazed overhead, but chosen by the phoebes 

 as the safest possible nook for rearing a brood of 

 baby birds. Down the sides of this shaft the rain 

 trickled, keeping the moss green and giving the 

 tiny ferns strength to cling to the crannies of the 

 rock. On a ledge just in reach of the tallest of 

 us the wise pair of birds had built their nest, care- 

 less of the dark cavern below, and happy among 

 the moss and ferns. 



XXII. 



KINGBIRD; BEE MARTIN. 



THE kingbird is noticeably smaller than the 

 robin, but is larger and more compactly built than 

 most of the flycatchers. The sobriety of his plain 

 blackish coat and white vest are relieved by a 

 colored patch that may sometimes be espied under 



